Another edition of Fenesta National tennis, looks to launch new stars

Will there be new champions in the Fenesta National tennis championship that begins at the DLTA Complex on Monday.

That will be an interesting point, especially in the men’s event in which there are as many as four former National champions, including Vishnu Vardhan who came through the qualifying event.

Dalwinder Singh, Mohit Mayur and VM Ranjeet are the other national champions who want to try and bag the trophy one more time.

It will be interesting to see how well the seventh seed Nitin Kumar Sinha, the former Asian junior champion tackles Vishnu Vardhan in the first round.

There will also be some more tough first round matches, as Mohit Mayur takes on third seed Ishaque Eqbal, while sixth seed Dalwinder Singh meets VM Ranjeet.

Second seed Aryan Goveas has drawn the talented left-hander Neeraj Yashpaul in the first round. Niki Poonacha has been seeded No.1 and will play Sai Karteek Ganta.

In the women’s event, Sowjanya Bavisetti and Bhuvana Kalva have been seeded at the top, ahead of Vaidehi Chaudhari and four-time national champion Prerna Bhambri.

‘’I am well prepared and feel so happy to be able to compete this year, after missing the last few years. There is always so much energy in the national championship and I am looking forward to the matches’’, said Sowjanya.

‘’I am hoping to get back to decent form with some good matches’’, said second seed Bhuvana Kalva, who will start against the tenacious Sara Yadav.

Sixth seed Sai Samhitha, a finalist in the past, will start against the player to watch, Rashmikaa Shrivalli Bhamidipaty.

Another finalist in the past, Rishika Sunkara will open against eighth seed Sravya Shivani Chilakalapudi.

With the men’s and women’s winners and runners-up getting equal prize money of Rs.300,000 and Rs.200,000 respectively, there will be a lot at stake, in the best tournament in the domestic circuit.

The under-18 boys and girls events, held concurrently, may be overshadowed but it is a great opportunity for the juniors to have a close look at the professionals, while some of them manage to compete in both events.

By hosting the tournament for more than 25 years, the DCM Shriram Group has shown remarkable commitment towards the game in the country. Over the years, this tournament has served as the launching pad for many champions, and it may not be any different this time.

The results (qualifying final round):

Men: Lakshit Sood bt Sahil Gaware 6-3, 2-6, 6-4; Vishnu Vardhan bt Karan Singh 6-1, 6-3; Yash Yadav bt Hardeep Singh Sandhu 7-5, 5-7, 6-3; Chandril Sood bt Deepinder Bains 6-2, 6-1; Sai Karteek Ganta bt Anvit Bendre 6-3, 4-6, 6-2; Vijayant Malik bt Lohith Bathrinath 6-0, 6-1.

Women: Akanksha Nitture bt Sai Dedeepya 6-4, 6-2; Sudipta Senthilkumar bt Priyam Kumari 6-2, 6-0; Salsa Aher bt Avishka Gupta 6-2, 6-0; Jagmeet Kaur bt Anaam Almas 7-6(0), 6-1; Anusha Kondaveeti bt Deepshika Saw 6-1, 6-2; Sharannya Gaware bt Bunty Chongtham 6-1, 6-0; Rashmikaa Shrivalli Bhamidipaty bt Kiran Kalkal 6-0, 6-2; Shreya Tatavarthy bt Dakshata Patel 6-1, 6-1.

Under-18 boys: Sam Chawla bt Ritik Rana 6-4, 6-1; Heerak Vora bt torus awat 6-2, 6-2; Yuvan Nandal bt Tushar Madan 6-4, 6-4; Dhanya Shah bt Aditya Balda 6-1, 6-4; Deep Munim bt Yogee Panwar 6-4, 6-1; Aditya Nandal bt Anmol Jain 6-2, 6-1; Ananth Muni bt Divanshu Hooda 6-1, 6-4; Bhrugen Bondre bt Maan Kesharwani 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-2.

Under-18 girls: Akanksha NItture bt Rachita Talwar 6-2, 7-5; Suhitha Maruri bt Rupal Kharb 6-3, 6-3; Sai Balaji bt Sachi Sharma 7-6(4), 7-6(5); Veda Raju Prapurna bt Sana Bhat 6-1, 6-1; Medhavi Singh bt Simran Pritam 6-4, 6-3; Divya Bhardwaj bt Asmita Kaur 6-1, 6-1; Richa Chougule bt Lakshmi Gowda 6-4, 6-1; Pooja Ingale bt Mirdhula Palanivel 6-2, 6-3.

The seedings:

Men: 1. Niki Poonacha, 2. Aryan Goveas, 3. Ishaque Eqbal, 4. Kunal Anand, 5. SD Prajwal Dev, 6. Dalwinder Singh, 7. Nitin Kumar Sinha, 8. Jatin Dahiya.

Women: 1. Sowjanya Bavisetti, 2. Bhuvana Kalva, 3. Vaidehi Chaudhari, 4. Prerna Bhambri, 5. Prathiba Narayan, 6. Sai Samhitha, 7. Yubarani Banerjee, 8. Sravya Shivani Chilakalapudi.

Under-18 boys: 1. Dev Javia, 2. Mann Maulik Shah, 3. Kabir Hans, 4. Krishan Hooda, 5. Chirag Duhan, 6. Madhwin Kamath, 7. Nishant Dabas, 8. Uddayvir Singh.

Under-18 girls: 1. Kashish Bhatia, 2. Akanksha Nitture, 3. Sarah Dev, 4. Vanshika Choudhary, 5. Sandeepti Singh Rao, 6. Rashmikaa Shrivalli Bhamidipaty, 7. Reshma Maruri, 8. Prerna Vichare.

(Courtesy: The Hindu)